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§ 3. From the point of view of their outward structure, verbs are 
characterised by specific forms of word-building, as well as by the 
formal features expressing the corresponding grammatical catego-
ries. 
The verb stems may be simple, sound-replacive, stress-replacive, 
expanded, composite, and phrasal. 
The original simple verb stems are not numerous. Cf. such verbs as 
go, take, read, etc. But conversion (zero-suffixation) as means of 
derivation, especially conversion of the "noun — verb" type, 
greatly enlarges the simple stem set of verbs, since it is one of the 
most productive ways of forming verb lexemes in modern English. 
Cf.: a cloud — to cloud, a house — to house; a man — to man; a 
park — to park, etc. 
The sound-replacive type of derivation and the stress-replacive 
type of derivation are unproductive. Cf.: food — 

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to feed, blood — to bleed; 'import — to im'port, 'transport — to 
trans'port. 
The typical suffixes expanding the stem of the verb are: -ate (culti-
vate), -en (broaden), -ifу (clarify), -ise(-ize) (normalise). The verb-
deriving prefixes of the inter-class type are: be- (belittle, befriend, 
bemoan) and en-/em- (engulf, embed). Some other characteristic 
verbal prefixes are: re- (remake), under- (undergo), over- (overes-
timate), sub- (submerge), mis-(misunderstand), un- (undo), etc. 
The composite (compound) verb stems correspond to the compos-
ite non-verb stems from which they are etymologically derived. 
Here belong the compounds of the conversion type (blackmail n. 
— blackmail v.) and of the reduction type (proof-reader n.—proof-
read v.). 
The phrasal verb stems occupy an intermediary position between 
analytical forms of the verb and syntactic word combinations. 
Among such stems two specific constructions should be men-
tioned. The first is a combination of the head-verb have, give, take, 
and occasionally some others with a noun; the combination has as 
its equivalent an ordinary verb. Cf.: to have a smoke — to smoke; 
to give a smile — to smile; to take a stroll — to stroll. 
The second is a combination of a head-verb with a verbal postposi-
tion that has a specificational value. Cf.: stand up, go on, give in, 
be off, get along, etc.